On Elitism and Education
Today I received word that my daughter’s high school band would not be attending the first round of the state football playoffs due to the location in Helena-West Helena. The reason was given as parental fears for their children’s safety based on “past events in the area.” I will readily admit that I do not know what the “past events” were, when they occurred, and if they warrant so strong a response. I do know that Helena-West Helena has played football at PA, and I’m pretty sure they brought their band. I will also admit that I have felt far more threatened by the Greenwood fans than by the Helena fans. Those people were scary, and they left their beer cans all over the school when they left.
I voted for the band to attend the game. Not going sends what I deeply believe is the wrong message to the people of Helena. The message is that the privileged white people (mostly) of Little Rock do not want their children to attend a football game in a largely black school district. I admit to sending my child to PA. My family chose the school because of its academic record, class sizes, and lack of religious affililiation. The last qualification turned out to be only loosely accurate, because PA clearly endorses a Christian outlook and occasionally even Christian dogma. I did not choose PA because of the demographics. Frankly, most PA parents annoy me rather intensely. I am disappointed in this decision by the band parents to keep their children home this Friday.
It bothers me that the school can’t shake the social elitism and just stick to academic elitism. What I want for my kid is a good education, not the Cotillion. My child might get a car at 16, but I definitely won’t be hosting a debutante ball.
If any of my readers has any information about the “past events” that precipitated this, I would love to hear about them. Otherwise, I will have to believe that PA band parents are mostly a bunch of weenies.
To whom is may concern,
There was no vote by parents to not send the band.
It had nothing to do with the demographics of Helena.
By the way, the Band did not go to the LRCA game either.
You should meet more parents, I rather like most of them.
Before you go on and insult a great school like PA, get your facts right. Accusing a school of being racist based on rumors is highly irresponsible.
you can do better, think before you post.
I will not post the email from the band director, in which I was specifically told that parents were being polled as to “safety” at Helena-West Helena. I was told that there had been “past incidents,” and I asked for specifics. I was not given any. I have been extremely fair in asking for people to give me a good reason why the band didn’t go. I certainly am not presenting “rumor” here. I am a band parent, and I can present the email if anyone wants to seriously challenge this. Also, the band went to the game at LRCA. You might not have noticed, because they are a very small band, or maybe you didn’t attend the game. Perhaps you were misled by a rumor. I suggest that you get your own facts straight. You have not presented any evidence. As for thinking before I posted this, I gave it a lot of thought. As someone who grew up here in the South, I think that issues like these are important.
PA is a good school. It is certainly not a great school, or at least my family (full tuition paying, I might add) has not seen this. There are good teachers and good classes there, but the academic rigour I heard so much about at the interview has not materialized.
I have met many PA parents. Some of them are great. Many are happy to be characterized by their possessions. As someone who chooses to intentionally live beneath my means, I find conspicuous consumption to be disgusting.
I apologize for the amount of time it took me to post your reply. It was a software error in notification. I appreciate that you took the time to respond. Please feel free to post here anytime.